The Estate Administration Tax, done exactly the way the Act does it. Enter the estate value and we’ll give you the real number, and what it doesn’t include.
Wills & Estates · Ontario
Probate Calculator
The Ontario Estate Administration Tax, what most people call "probate fees." The first $50,000 is free. Above that, it’s $15 per $1,000 (or part thereof) of estate value. This tool runs the math exactly the way the Estate Administration Tax Act does.
Fair market value of all property the estate trustee must administer, as of the date of death.
Mortgages or other debts secured against real property in Ontario can be deducted for EAT purposes. Debts secured against out-of-Ontario property cannot.
This tool only estimates the Estate Administration Tax. It does not include legal fees, executor compensation (typically ~5% of the estate), accounting fees, asset sale costs, or estate income tax. It also assumes the entire estate passes through probate, in practice, assets held jointly with right of survivorship, assets with a named beneficiary (RRSPs, TFSAs, life insurance), and assets held in a properly-structured trust often pass outside probate and are not counted.
The $50,000 exemption applies where the application for an estate certificate is made on or after 1 January 2020. The trigger is the date of the application, not the date of death. Nothing here is legal advice and no solicitor-client relationship is formed by using this tool.
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Speak to a lawyer about administering the estate
An estimate tells you the shape of the answer. Whether it applies to your situation depends on documents and facts a calculator cannot see. Most matters qualify for a complimentary 15-minute initial assessment.
Enter your estimated estate value (real estate, investments, bank accounts, etc.) and this tool calculates Ontario probate fees and estimates total probate costs. Ontario charges 1.5% probate fees on estates exceeding $50,000. The calculator also estimates legal fees and timing. Use this as a rough guide, actual costs depend on estate complexity. Assets passing outside probate (life insurance, RRSPs with beneficiaries, joint property) are not included.
Probate includes: real estate (home, investment property), bank accounts, investment accounts (stocks, bonds, mutual funds), business interests, vehicles, and jewelry. Assets NOT in probate (and not taxed): life insurance proceeds (if named beneficiary), RRSPs/RRIFs (if named beneficiary), TFSAs (if named beneficiary), and jointly-owned property (passes directly to co-owner). Significant assets often avoid probate through beneficiary designations. Our calculator shows probate savings if you structure assets to bypass probate.
Relevant legislation: Succession Law Reform Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. S.26
Why is my probate estimate different from the actual probate fees?
Our calculator provides a rough estimate. Actual probate fees depend on: the exact net estate value (debts reduce value), timing, and whether assets avoid probate. Estate value is calculated as the value of the estate less encumbrances registered against Ontario real property that is itself in the estate. General debts are not deductible: not loans, not credit card balances, not lines of credit, not funeral expenses and not legal fees. Some assets decrease in value between death and probate grant, reducing fees. Legal fees vary by lawyer and complexity. Use our estimate to understand the magnitude; consult a lawyer for exact numbers.
How can I reduce probate fees using this calculator?
Our calculator shows how naming beneficiaries on RRSPs, life insurance, and TFSAs bypasses probate on those assets, reducing total probate fees. For a $500,000 estate with $250,000 in RRSP and insurance (beneficiary-designated), probate is calculated on only $250,000 ($3,750), not the full $500,000 ($7,500). The calculator illustrates this: adjust assets to see the savings from using beneficiary designations and joint ownership.
Does this calculator apply to all Canadian provinces?
No, this calculator is specific to Ontario. Probate fees vary dramatically by province: Ontario charges 1.5%, British Columbia uses a sliding scale, Alberta charges nothing, and Quebec uses a different system entirely. If you own property in multiple provinces, consult lawyers in each jurisdiction. Use this calculator for your Ontario estate; for multi-province estates, seek professional guidance.
Yes, use our calculator to understand probate impact and explore strategies (beneficiary designations, joint ownership, insurance). However, don't rely solely on estimates, consult an estate lawyer for precise planning. Our calculator doesn't address: income tax on death, CPP survivor benefits, estate disputes, complex assets, or blended family issues. It's a starting point for understanding costs and exploring probate reduction strategies.
Relevant legislation: Estate planning best practices
“I had the absolute pleasure of working separately with two lawyers from Lexaltico — Pooja Lassi and Matthew Ram — on different matters. The level of professionalism, expertise, and care demonstrated by each of them was consistently exceptional. They do not simply service your needs — they take the time to thoroughly understand your situation and proactively problem-solve.”
SJR
★★★★★
“I had the absolute pleasure of working separately with two lawyers from Lexaltico — Pooja Lassi and Matthew Ram — on different matters. The level of professionalism, expertise, and care demonstrated by each of them was consistently exceptional. They do not simply service your needs — they take the time to thoroughly understand your situation and proactively problem-solve.”
SJR
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Estimator & Calculator Tools
The Severance Estimator and Estate Dispute Evaluator are for informational purposes only. Results are estimates and do not account for specific contractual terms, statutory provisions, or judicial discretion. These tools do not create a solicitor-client relationship. Always seek independent legal advice before making any legal decision.
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Initial Assessment
The complimentary 15-minute initial assessment is a brief introductory conversation. It does not include a review of your documents and does not constitute legal advice. Lexaltico LLP charges a fee for substantive consultations, including civil litigation, criminal defence and immigration matters; the firm may waive that fee at its discretion. Any fee is disclosed in advance and credited in full toward your account if you retain the firm. Documents are reviewed and advice given only at a paid consultation or once the firm has been retained. No solicitor-client relationship arises, and no duty of confidentiality applies, until confirmed in writing.
Referral Fees: LexKonnect
All referral fee arrangements comply with Rule 3.6-6 of the LSO Rules of Professional Conduct. Fees are disclosed to and consented to by the client. No arrangement impairs independent professional judgment.
Limitation Periods
Failure to commence proceedings within applicable limitation periods may permanently bar your claim. In Ontario, the general limitation period is two (2) years from discovery under the Limitations Act, 2002, S.O. 2002, c. 24, Sched. B. Seek legal advice promptly.
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Reviews shown on this site are written by third parties and published on platforms we do not control. Each describes one person’s experience of one matter. They are not a promise, a prediction or a guarantee about any other matter, and they should not be read as a statement about the quality of legal services generally. Every case turns on its own facts.
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Not everyone at the firm is a lawyer. Licensed paralegals in Ontario may act only within the scope permitted by the Law Society of Ontario, which does not include most family, estate or criminal matters. Immigration consulting may be provided by Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants, who are not lawyers. Each page and each biography states which applies. Ask us at the outset who will handle your matter and under which licence.
Languages
We serve clients in a number of languages. Every page of this site is written and published in English. Where a document, a summary or a conversation is provided in another language, the English version governs in the event of any difference. If you need an interpreter, tell us when you book and we will arrange one.
Lexaltico LLP
Legal Notices
How Lexaltico LLP handles personal information, under PIPEDA and Ontario law.
What we collect
What you give us
When you use a form on this site, email us or telephone us, we collect what you choose to send:
your name, email address, telephone number and a description of the situation. Nothing on this
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What we do not collect here
We do not collect sensitive personal information through this website. Detailed personal and legal
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set up for that purpose.
How we use it
Purpose
What you send is used to reply to you, to run a conflict check, to assess whether the firm can
assist, and, if a retainer follows, to carry out the work.
Marketing
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Sharing and disclosure
Privilege
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Processing outside Canada
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Your rights, and how long we keep things
Your rights under PIPEDA
Under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act,
S.C. 2000, c. 5 you may ask what personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct
anything inaccurate, and withdraw consent to our use of it, subject to legal and contractual
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Retention
Client files are kept for the period the law and the Law Society require, ordinarily
seven years after a matter closes, which reflects limitation periods and the
possibility of later proceedings. After that they are securely destroyed or anonymised. You may
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Enquiries that do not become files
If you contact us and no retainer follows, what you sent is retained only as long as our conflict
records require, then destroyed.
If you are not satisfied with our answer you may complain to the Office of the Privacy
Commissioner of Canada.
Short, and written to be read rather than scrolled past.
The four things that matter most
Nothing on this site is legal advice, however specific it looks.
Using the site or sending a form does not make us your lawyers.
Do not send confidential information before a retainer is signed.
Past results depend on their own facts and do not predict yours.
What this site is
Information, not advice
This site publishes several hundred pages about Ontario law. They are written carefully, they cite
statutes and cases by name, and they are reviewed. None of that makes them advice about your
matter. Law is applied to facts, and we do not know yours.
The difference is practical rather than technical. A page explaining that spousal support is
usually indefinite after a twenty year marriage is accurate as a general statement and may be
wrong about you, because of a domestic contract you signed, a period of separation you have
forgotten, or an income that is not what a tax return says it is.
Law also changes. Pages carry a review date where one is relevant. A page reviewed last year may
not reflect an amendment made since, and a page about a subject currently before an appellate
court may be overtaken between your reading it and your acting on it.
When we become your lawyers
Three things must happen first
A conflict check must be completed. We act for a great many people and
businesses, and we cannot act against a current client or use what we learned from a former one.
That check happens before anything else and occasionally means we have to decline.
We must confirm in writing that we are prepared to act. Not every matter is one we
can take, and saying so early is better than taking a file we cannot properly serve.
A retainer agreement must be signed. It sets out what we are doing, what we are
not doing, who is responsible for what, and how fees work. Until it is signed no relationship
exists, whatever has been discussed.
Confidentiality before a retainer
Why you should not send us documents yet
Information sent through a form, or by email, before a retainer is signed is not covered by
solicitor client privilege. That is not a policy we chose. It follows from there being no
solicitor client relationship for the privilege to attach to.
It can also create a problem for you. If you send us detailed information about a dispute and we
are later approached by the other side, what you sent may affect whether we can act for either of
you.
So tell us the shape of the problem and leave out the detail: the area of law, roughly when it
arose, and whether anything is urgent. That is enough for us to say whether we can help. The
documents come after the retainer.
Results, testimonials and reviews
What they do and do not tell you
Case results described anywhere on this site are real and are described accurately, and they are
specific to their own facts. A settlement at three times the original offer happened because of
that employer, that contract and that person’s history. It says nothing about what your
matter is worth.
Client reviews are the views of the people who wrote them. We do not offer anything in return for
a review, we do not write them, and we do not ask only the clients we expect to be positive.
Calculators on this site produce estimates from the figures you enter. They apply published
formulas and they cannot know about the facts that most often change the answer.
Copyright, links and governing law
Copyright
The content of this site belongs to Lexaltico LLP or its licensors. You are welcome to read it,
print it and quote it with attribution. You may not republish it as your own.
Links
We link to statutes, regulations, court decisions and government pages because a reader should be
able to check us. We do not control those sites and are not responsible for them, and a link is
not an endorsement.
Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent the law permits, Lexaltico LLP is not liable for any loss arising from your
use of, or reliance on, anything published on this website.
Governing law
These terms are governed by the law of Ontario and the federal law of Canada that applies in
Ontario. Lawyers and licensed professionals at the firm are regulated by the Law Society of
Ontario, and marketing on this site is intended to comply with the
Rules of Professional Conduct.
Every limit on what this website tells you, and every thing it does not do, in one
place rather than in small print at the bottom of each page.
Before you rely on anything here
Four limits, and they matter in this order.
Not legal advice
Everything published on this website is general information. It is not legal
advice, it does not take account of the facts of any particular situation, and reading it does not
create a solicitor client relationship. Do not act, or decide not to act, on anything here without
speaking to a lawyer licensed in your jurisdiction about your own circumstances.
Jurisdiction
These pages describe the law of Ontario, and of Alberta only
where a page says so expressly. They do not describe the law of any other province, territory or
country. Law that looks similar across jurisdictions frequently is not.
Currency of the law
Each page states the law as at the review date shown on it. Legislation is amended and case law
develops. A page accurate when written may no longer be.
Generality
These pages describe how a rule usually works. That is not the same as how it applies to your
facts. The exceptions are where most real matters live, and a page written for a general reader
cannot tell you whether you are inside a rule or inside its exception.
If you contact us
If you are in danger
If you or a child are in immediate danger, call 911.
This website is not an emergency service. Enquiries sent through a form here are read during
business hours and a reply may take up to one business day.
Using this website, submitting a form, sending an email or speaking to us on the telephone does
not make us your lawyers. That relationship arises only when the firm has
confirmed in writing that it has agreed to act, a conflict search has been completed, and a
retainer has been signed.
Confidentiality of enquiries
Do not send confidential or sensitive information through this website or by email until we have
confirmed in writing that we can act for you. Information sent before that point is
not treated as confidential and may prevent us from acting for you, or for
someone else, in a connected matter.
Response times
We aim to reply within one business day. Contacting us does not guarantee a reply within any
particular period, does not oblige the firm to act, and does not stop, extend or satisfy
any limitation period, filing date or court deadline.
Our telephone line
Our line is answered 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Outside office hours calls are taken
by our intake service, who record your details and pass them to the firm. A lawyer responds during
the next business day, or sooner if the matter is urgent. Answering the telephone is not the same
as giving legal advice, and no relationship arises from that call.
Who we are and how we are regulated
Law Society of Ontario
Lexaltico LLP is regulated by the Law Society of Ontario under the
Law Society Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. L.8. All lawyers practising in
Ontario through the firm are members in good standing.
Law Society of Alberta
Alberta matters are handled by lawyers licensed with, and in good standing with, the
Law Society of Alberta. A lawyer licensed in Ontario is not thereby licensed in
Alberta, and the reverse is also true.
Immigration regulation
Immigration consulting is provided by Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants
in good standing with the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants under the
College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Act, S.C. 2019, c. 29,
s. 292.
Lawyers, paralegals and consultants
Not everyone at the firm is a lawyer.
Licensed paralegals in Ontario may act only within the scope the Law Society
permits, which does not include most family, estate or criminal matters.
Immigration consultants are regulated by the College, not by a law society,
and are not lawyers.
Law clerks and managers support files but do not give legal advice.
Each page and biography states which applies. Ask at the outset who will handle your matter and
under which licence.
Languages
We serve clients in thirteen languages. Every page of this website is written and published in
English. Where anything is provided in another language, the English
version governs in the event of a difference. If you need an interpreter, tell us when
you book and we will arrange one.
Fees
The initial assessment
The complimentary 15 minute initial assessment is a brief introductory
conversation. It does not include a review of your documents and does not constitute
legal advice.
The firm charges a fee for substantive consultations, including in civil litigation,
criminal defence and immigration matters. The firm may waive that fee at its discretion.
Any fee is disclosed in advance and credited in full toward your account if you retain the
firm.
Referral fees
All referral fee arrangements, including through LexKonnect, comply with
Rule 3.6-6 of the Law Society of Ontario’s
Rules of Professional Conduct. Fees are disclosed to and consented
to by the client, and no arrangement impairs the independent professional judgment of any lawyer
at the firm.
What is published on this site
Calculators and estimators
They produce estimates from what you type and cannot know the rest. They do not
account for the terms of your contract, statutory exceptions, or the discretion a court will
apply. Do not make a decision on a number produced by a calculator.
Past results
Any outcome described happened on its own facts, before its own decision maker,
under the law as it stood at the time. Past results do not predict or guarantee the result of any
other case.
Reviews and testimonials
Reviews shown here are written by third parties and published on platforms we do not control. Each
describes one person’s experience of one matter. They are not a promise, a
prediction or a guarantee about any other matter.
Links to other websites
This site links to regulators, courts, government sources, professional associations and social
platforms, all operated by others. We do not control them, we are not responsible for
their content or accuracy, and a link is not an endorsement.
Other notices
Limitation periods
Failure to start a proceeding within the applicable limitation period may permanently bar
your claim. In Ontario the general period is two years from discovery
under the Limitations Act, 2002, S.O. 2002, c. 24, Sched. B.
Shorter periods apply to many claims. Seek advice promptly. Nothing on this website extends a
limitation period.
Accessibility
We aim to meet the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act
and WCAG 2.1 Level AA. If any part of this site prevents you from reaching us, telephone
+1 416 333 6200 or write to
hello@lexaltico.com and we will provide the information
in another format, at no charge.
